Director's Report to the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse

February, 1998

Meetings/Conferences

NIDA organized a "Town Meeting" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania entitled "Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction: Myths Vs. Reality" on October 20, 1997. NIDA Director, Dr. Alan I. Leshner and NIDA researchers discussed ways that state policy makers, organizations, schools and communities can utilize the latest scientific research to assess state and local drug problems and develop programs to meet these needs.

NIDA hosted its Fourth Annual Constituent Conference on December 2-3, 1997 at the Lansdowne Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia. NIDA Director, Dr. Alan Leshner presented the "NIDA Report Card," highlighting specific action taken by the Institute in response to constituent group recommendations, and presented NIDA products and discussed with constituent organizations how they can utilize and help disseminate them. Paul Samuels, President of the Legal Action Center, and Gloria Danziger, Staff Director of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, addressed the participants on the subject of coalition building.

A consensus panel convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in November strongly recommended broader access to methadone maintenance treatment programs for people who are addicted to heroin or other opiate drugs and that the Federal and State regulations and other barriers impeding this access be eliminated. The panel issued their consensus statement following an extensive review of the existing medical literature and a series of presentations by heroin addiction research experts at a 3-day NIH Consensus Development Conference on Effective Medical Treatment of Heroin Addiction. This conference was sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research and was cosponsored by the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health. The full consensus statement containing specific findings and recommendations made by the panel is available by calling 1-888-NIH-CONSENSUS (1-888-644-2667) or by visiting the NIH Consensus Development Program Web site at http://consensus.nih.gov.

On December 9, 1997, the Services Research Branch held a meeting entitled "Developing an Agenda for Health Services Research on Drug Abuse Treatment and Prevention." This is the first of 4-5 planning meetings that will be held to develop the program for the NIDA-Sponsored Symposium Forging the Link, to be held next June prior to the Annual Meeting of the Association of Health Services Research. Dr. Bennett Fletcher, Chief of NIDA's Services Research Branch, chaired the meeting attended by eight drug abuse prevention and treatment and health services researchers and NIDA staff from the Division of Clinical and Services Research, the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, and the Office of Science Policy and Communications.

Dr. Betty Tai, MDD, co-chaired (with Drs. Blaine, Preston, and Cohen) the NIDA Treatment Workgroup workshop entitled "Current and Future Status of Naltrexone", November 12-13, 1997. The objective of this workshop was to examine the wealth of information available on the use of naltrexone to treat opioid addiction, and to discuss the potential for improvement and expansion of its use as a clinical resource.

On November 4, 1997, the NIDA Resiliency and Risk Workgroup in collaboration with the NIDA Treatment Workgroup sponsored and organized a meeting on "The Application of Resiliency and Risk Research to the Further Development of Drug Abuse Treatment Interventions." The meeting addressed a critical issue. Longitudinal research has produced significant information about the etiology of drug abuse and some of the resiliency and risk factors which influence an individual's drug involvement. While some of this information has been used in the development of treatment programming, this "brain-storming" meeting explored how the further application of available research based data can advance drug abuse treatment effectiveness beyond current levels. A report of the meeting and its recommendations is being prepared.

On December 15-16, 1997, the institute-wide NIDA Resiliency and Risk Workgroup sponsored a meeting entitled "Drug Abuse Multi-disciplinary Integration Meeting." The goal was for the participants to bring a multi-disciplinary perspective to further our understanding of three largely unexplained, significant, observed phenomena which are unresolved major problems for drug abuse research and intervention. The three phenomena which were explored were: Early Onset, Co-occurrence, and Relapse of Drug Abuse. A premise of this meeting was that some aspects of drug abuse may have a multiply determined nature and might only be understood and resolved through multidisciplinary approaches. The meeting generated a range of exciting ideas and possibilities for further exploration. A report of the meeting and its recommendations is being prepared.

NIDA's Community Research Branch and Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research held an inter-agency meeting with CDC October 31 on "The Epidemiology and Prevention of Viral Hepatitis Among Injection Drug Users." The objectives of the meeting were to (1) review the epidemiology and prevention of viral hepatitis among IDUs from both the CDC and the NIDA perspectives and (2) to develop an action plan for collaborative research efforts between the two agencies. The rapid spread and high seroprevalence rates of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in this population underscore the need for a concerted public health effort to intervene early, before noninjectors initiate drug injection. In addition, strategies are needed to encourage IDUs who are seronegative to protect themselves from becoming infected, including accepting and completing the HBV vaccine regiment, following up on referrals for testing, entering and completing drug treatment, and practicing behaviors which reduce and prevent the risks of spreading these infections.

On September 18-19, 1997, NIDA's Special Populations Office sponsored a two-day Minority Supplements Assessment meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, where approximately 50 past and present minority supplement recipients and faculty sponsors convened to assess their research and mentoring experiences under NIDA's minority supplements program, and to discuss strategies for strengthening the program.

On November 13-14, 1997, NIDA's Special Populations Office reconvened a group of ten minority supplement recipients (investigators and postdoctoral fellows) for a second two-day research development seminar in Bethesda, Maryland. The workshop provided an orientation to the NIH review process, a mock review, and individual mentoring.

On October 28, 1997, NIDA's Special Populations Office helped support the forum for minority students held in New Orleans at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. The forum was co-hosted by NIDA's Minority Institutions Research and Development Program (MIRDP) at Xavier University.

From November 6-9, 1997, NIDA's Special Populations Office co-sponsored the Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Next Steps program at the annual Black Psychiatrists of America conference in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. NIDA-supported presenters included Dr. Kathy Sanders-Phillips, Dr. Ronald Braithwaite, Dr. Flavia Walton, and Dr. Jean Oyemade Bailey.

Dr. Cora Lee Wetherington, NIDA's Women's Health Coordinator, served as a co-chair of a workshop entitled "Alcohol and Other Drug Use, Disorders and Consequences" conducted at the meeting "Beyond Hunt Valley: Research on Women's Health for the 21st Century," held by the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, Bethesda, MD, November 18-19, 1997.

Dr. Nancy Pilotte, DBR, organized a satellite symposium entitled, "Cocaine and a Changing Brain," at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience where speakers described novel pharmacologies directed at the dopamine transporter that might lead to novel medications in cocaine-dependent people, identified new binding sites (probably not dopaminergic) in the brain for cocaine, and discussed the functional alteration of dopamine clearance in the nucleus accumbens after withdrawal of cocaine. Other speakers described the influence of specific cortical inputs onto striatal neurons and the long-term changes that occur in the brains of humans and animals after withdrawal of cocaine. Adaptations in the adenosine system, the serotonin system, and within a recently-described peptide system, were discussed. The discovery of a new cocaine-regulated gene in the nucleus accumbens was also described.

Dr. Timothy Condon, NIDA's Associate Director for Science Policy and Director, OSPC, was keynote speaker at the Florida Summit on Behavioral Health Care held in Tallahassee, Florida, on September 10, 1997.

Dr. Timothy Condon, OSPC, convened a NIDA Grant Writing Workshop at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, held in Toronto, Canada, on October 16, 1997 to highlight for members the grant opportunities available at NIDA in the area of child and adolescent substance abuse.

Dr. Timothy Condon, OSPC, held a symposium entitled "Training Programs for Underrepresented Minorities in Neuroscience and Drugs of Abuse" on October 28 at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Dr. Timothy Condon, OSPC, attended the meeting "Discussion of Public Education Campaigns on the Biomedical Causes of Drug Addiction", convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1998, and delivered an address on the "Great Disconnect."

On November 5, 1997, Dr. Andrea Baruchin, OSPC, presented a talk, entitled "Methamphetamine: Effects on the Brain and Body," at the North Dakota Methamphetamine Summit sponsored by the Office of the Attorney General of North Dakota.

Susan Azeka, OSPC, represented NIDA at the NIH Conference on Research Involving Individuals with Questionable Capacity to Consent: Ethical Issues and Practical Considerations for IRBs. The conference, co-sponsored by NIDA, was held December 2-3, 1997, in Rockville, MD.

Dr. Peter J. Delany, Deputy Chief of NIDA's Services Research Branch, chaired a panel entitled, "Drug Abuse Treatment as Prevention for HIV/AIDS", at the 125th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association in Indianapolis in November 1997. This panel presented information on treatment applications and service needs aimed at enhancing the impact of drug abuse treatment on HIV risk behaviors. Dr. Delany presented work on "HIV Risk Behaviors and Access to Services: Findings from DATOS", Dr. Lana Harrison from the University of Delaware presented on "Integrating HIV Prevention Strategies in a TC Work Release Program for Criminal Offenders", Dr. Jesse Milby from the University of Alabama presented on "Integrating Drug Abuse Treatment and Abstinent Contingent Employment for Homeless, Dually Diagnosed Cocaine Abusers", Dr. David Metzger from the University of Pennsylvania presented on "A Prospective Longitudinal Study of HIV Infection and Risk Behaviors Among In- and Out-of-Treatment Drug Users", and Dr. Steve Shoptaw of the Matrix Institute presented on "Cocaine Abuse Counseling as HIV Prevention".

Dr. Robert Battjes, DCSR, attended a steering committee of the WHO/NIH Joint Project on the Assessment and Classification of Disablements, September 23-24 in Luxembourg and also attended a meeting of the assessment instrument development task force on September 25-27, 1997.

Dr. Skip Francis, CMB/DCSR, attended the Infectious Disease Society meeting in San Francisco, California, September 13-16, 1997. Dr. Francis met with the conference organizers to arrange for an Infectious disease and drug use symposium in the next meeting. Based on those discussions, CMB/NIDA will present a Symposium titled, "Drug Use as an Emerging Disease" in the September, 1998 meeting in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Skip Francis, CMB/DCSR, moderated a panel titled, "Health Consequences of Heroin Addiction" at the NIDA sponsored conference titled, "Heroin Use and Addiction: A National Conference on Prevention, Treatment and Research Program", September 28-30, 1997, Washington, D.C. Dr. Francis and the other speakers, Ellie Schoenbaum, M.D., Karol Kaltenbach, Ph.D. and David Thomas, M.D. presented research achievements and goals for health consequences research in drug users, drug using maternal populations, drug exposed fetal populations and the interaction between Hepatitis C & HIV/AIDS.

On November 11, 1997 Elizabeth Rahdert, Ph.D., Treatment Research Branch, DCSR, presented a poster entitled "Risk Profiles by Age and Sex of Adolescents Referred for Drug Assessment" at the 125th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dr. Jack Blaine, TRB/DCSR, participated in the workshop on "Treatment and Alcohol Craving" sponsored by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, held at the Convention Center, Washington, D.C., October 8-9, 1997.

Dr. Teresa Levitin, OEPR, chaired the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues 1997 Robert Chin Memorial Award Committee. Each year, this committee awards a prize for a scholarly paper that best uses research findings to address the serious problem of child abuse.

Dr. Teresa Levitin, OEPR, served on the Evaluation Committee for the 57th Westinghouse Science Talent Search in December. The Westinghouse Science Talent Search aims to further the career development of outstanding high school students with an interest in and aptitude for science, and the evaluation committee judges original submissions of projects in a variety of basic and applied scientific areas.

Drs. Frank Vocci and Betty Tai, Medications Development Division, co-chaired and presented a workshop, along with Drs. Walter Ling, John Mendelson, and Eric Strain: "Buprenorphine: an Alternate Treatment for Opioid Dependence", at a meeting of the American Society of Addiction Medicine Conference on Models and Measures of Early Recovery; Washington D.C., October 23, 1997.

Dr. Frank Vocci, MDD, presented "Translation of Preclinical Research into Clinical Studies", at the NIDA Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, Maryland, October 21, 1997.

Dr. Peter Cohen, MDD, presented two lectures at the 1998 Biennial Congress of the Pan-Pacific Surgical Association, January 26, 1998: (1) "Molecules, Mind, Myths and Addiction: Disease, Misconduct, or What?" (2) "The First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers": A Physician's Guide to Legal Thinking".

On November 17, 1997, Lula Beatty attended the final meeting of Beyond Hunt Valley: Research on Women's Health for the 21st Century sponsored by the Office of Research on Women's Health, NIH.

The Special Populations Office was invited to attend a conference on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Initiatives sponsored by the Department of Defense. Arnold Mills attended this meeting held in Bethesda on December 18-19, 1997.

Lula Beatty was a luncheon speaker for the Women of Color National Networking and Leadership Workshop held November 19-20, 1997, at Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She spoke on Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Women of Color.

On September 15, 1997, Lula Beatty presented a session on NIDA's Hispanic Initiative as part of NIH's Hispanic Heritage Program.

On January 8, 1998, Lula Beatty presented a session on research opportunities at NIDA for the NIH Extramural Associates program.

In November, 1997, Lula Beatty served as a field reviewer for Head Start's 4th National Research Conference titled Children and Families in an Era of Rapid Change - Creating a Shared Agenda for Researchers, Practitioners and Policy Makers.

On October 28, 1997, Dr. Zili Sloboda, Director of DEPR, was the keynote speaker at a meeting of a consortium of administrators and faculty from New York State on Drug Abuse Among College Students.

Dr. Zili Sloboda, DEPR, presented a paper on the Epidemiology of Crack-Cocaine at a meeting cosponsored by the National Institute on Justice and NIDA held November 4, 1997.

Dr. Zili Sloboda, DEPR, participated with Jaylan Turkkan, Steve Zukin and Tim Condon in a meeting of NIH Offices and Institutes coordinated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to discuss priorities for tobacco prevention research held on October 8, 1997.

Dr. Zili Sloboda, DEPR, served as an advisor to the Porter Novelli on design issues relative to the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign along with NIDA researchers: Gil Botvin, Mary Ann Pentz, Lloyd Johnston, Phil Palmgreen, and Tony Biglan on October 20, 1997.

Ann Blanken, DEPR, participated in the Join Together training seminar for Fighting Back Information Specialists which was held at Brandeis University on September 23-26, 1997. A major goal of the Fighting Back program for the next five years is to have drug and alcohol abuse decline in a measurable way in each community. Ms. Blanken spoke about NIDA's Community Epidemiology Work Group as a model for the Join Together effort, the importance of community-level assessment, monitoring approaches and potential data sources.

Richard H. Needle, Ph.D., M.P.H., Chief, Community Research Branch, DEPR, gave a presentation on "Drug Abuse and HIV Research in the Next Century: What Anthropology Has to Contribute" at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 20, 1997 in Washington, D.C.

On November 10, 1997, Andrea Kopstein of DEPR/ERB, presented a paper at the American Public Health Association Meeting titled: "Trends for Self-Reported Incidents While Driving After Drinking Alcohol for High School Seniors."

Mr. Nicholas Kozel, DEPR, chaired the 43rd biannual meeting of the Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG) which was held in Phoenix, Arizona on December 9-12, 1997.

Elizabeth Robertson, Ph.D., DEPR, represented NIDA at the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, National Center for the Application of Prevention site visits in Minneapolis, MN, Springfield, IL, Reno, NV, and Portland, OR, on September 25-29, 1997.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson, DEPR, participated in a Work Group meeting of the Positive Youth Development Group of the HHS Secretary's Initiative on Youth Substance Abuse Prevention on September 10, 1997.

The Workgroup on Preventing Substance Abuse and Mental Health Problems in Managed Health Care Settings co-sponsored by the National Mental Health Association and CSAP is preparing a publication for dissemination to practitioners. The group last met on December 4-5, 1997. Dr. Elizabeth Robertson attended the meeting and serves on the writing team.

Dr. Elizabeth Robertson chaired a workgroup meeting on the topic of Drug Abuse Prevention Through Family-Focused Health Care, at the Double Tree Hotel in Rockville, on September 11, 1997.

Peter Hartsock, Dr.P.H., CRB/DEPR gave a presentation on "Drug-Related AIDS in the Commonwealth of Independent States," at the June 1997 meeting of the Community Epidemiology Work Group, in Washington, D.C.

Susan Coyle, Ph.D., DEPR/Community Research Branch, participated in a workshop on "Drug Abuse and HIV Infection: Behavioral and Neurologic Aspects" at the NIH Research Festival, October 6-10, 1997, in Bethesda, MD. Dr. Coyle gave a presentation on the use of effects of outreach-based HIV interventions for drug users.

Elizabeth Lambert, M.Sc., CRB/DEPR, in collaboration with Fe Caces, Ph.D. and Tracy Gordon, M.P.S. of CSR, Inc., and Richard H. Needle, Ph.D., M.P.H. and Helen Cesari, M.S., of CRB/DEPR developed and presented a poster on "Pregnant Drug Users in an AIDS Outreach/Intervention Research Program: Profiles of HIV Risk," at the 1997 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Indianapolis.

Dr. Monique Ernst, IRP, presented "Neuroimaging in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" at the National CHADD Meeting held in Towson, MD on October 4, 1997.

Dr. Edythe D. London, IRP, presented "Neuroimaging: Assessing Sites of Action and Their Implications" at the ASAM Conference entitled "State of the Art in Addiction Medicine-- Models & Measures of Early Recovery: Implications for New Treatment Strategies" held in Washington, D.C., October 24-25, 1997.

Dr. James A. Bell, IRP, presented "Long-term Agonist Effects of Amphiphile Congeners of Etorphine Suggest Interfacial Location of m-opioid Receptor Recognition Site" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Dr. Monique Ernst, IRP, presented "Cognitive Activation in Nicotine Withdrawal" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Dr. Steven Grant, IRP, presented "Drug Abusers Show Impaired Performance on a Test of Orbitofrontal Function" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Ms. Geraldine R. Hill, IRP, presented "[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyl]-2- (3,4-dichlorophenyl-acetamide)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline binding to k opioid receptor subtypes" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Dr. Andrew G. Horti, IRP, presented "[18F]-2-Fluoro-5-(2(s)-azetidinylmethoxy)pyridine, a radioligand for in vivo imaging of central nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Dr. Edythe D. London, IRP, presented "Cerebral Metabolism During Cue-Elicited Cocaine Craving" at the 36th Annual Meeting the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology held in Kamuela, Hawaii, Dec. 8-12, 1997.

Dr. Evan D. Morris, IRP, presented "Can PET Accurately Measure Receptor Binding Potential in the Rhesus Monkey Striatum? Computer Simulations Can Help" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Dr. D. Bruce Vaupel, IRP, presented "Effect of Cocaine-related Environmental Stimulation on the Spontaneous Electroencephalogram in Polydrug Abusers" at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Dr. Amy H. Newman, IRP, was invited to present a lecture entitled: "Novel 3a-(Diphenylmethoxy) tropane Analogs as Probes for the Dopamine Transporter" at the Department of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, U.K. in October, 1997.

Dr. Amy H. Newman, IRP, was invited to present a lecture entitled "Novel 3a-(Diphenylmethoxy) tropane Analogs as Probes for the Dopamine Transporter" at the Department of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle, North Carolina in December, 1997.

Dr. Jonathan L. Katz, IRP, was invited to present a lecture entitled "Behavioral Pharmacology and Drug Abuse" at the Department of Pharmacology, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. in January, 1998.

Cadet J.L. Regulation of Cell Death-related Genes by Methamphetamine in Immortalized Neural Cells. Presented at the Intl. Soc. Neurochemistry/American Society for Neurochemistry held in Hamilton, Bermuda on July 16-18, 1997.

Herning, R. EEG Differences in HIV+ and HIV- Cocaine Abusers. Presented at The American Medical Electroencephalographic Association (AMEEGA) meeting held in Baltimore, MD, November 7-8, 1997.

McCoy, M., Mann, H. and Cadet J.L. HFGF-b and rhTGF-a Protects Against Methamphetamine-induced Cell Death in the Neuroglioma Cell Line, H4. Presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Hayashi, T., Su, T.-P, Kagaya, A., Oyamada, T., and Yamawaki, S. Enhancement of N-methyl-d-aspartate-induced [CA2+]I Response by Sulpiride: Involvement of Protein Kinase and Modulation by Sigma Ligands. Presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.

Yeh, S.Y. Chloropheniramine (CPA) Protects Against 3,4-methylene-doxymeth-amphetamine (MDMA)-induced Depletion of Indoles in Rats. Presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting held in New Orleans, LA, October 25-30, 1997.